Who has a real chance of winning a medal in 2012?

helpisontheway

The title speaks for itself,what irish athletes if they stay injury free,train well etc have a genuine chance of winning a medal in 2012 if they keep progressing.I will start off with Kelly Proper in the long jump.What did she do again this year,6.51 is it at age 20/21 and constantly improving.

thirtyfoot

helpisontheway wrote: »

The title speaks for itself,what irish athletes if they stay injury free,train well etc have a genuine chance of winning a medal in 2012 if they keep progressing.I will start off with Kelly Proper in the long jump.What did she do again this year,6.51 is it at age 20/21 and constantly improving.

I'd have to go for Eileen O' Keeffe as our main medal hope. Proper has still a long way to go before she would be considered a medal contender, regular in the 6.90's and maybe a 7m jumper.

If O' Rourke kicked on from 2006 she could have medaled in Beijing so if she discovered the old magic and Cuddihy could medal if the 400m stays where it is at now

Brian Gregan could be a potential finalist (along with Gillick) but the next 2 years will tell a lot for him, he needs to get down to the 45's next season.

Cragg in the marathon and Heffernan in the 50k walk.

ZiggyStardust

Tingle wrote: »

Cragg in the marathon and Heffernan in the 50k walk.

Tingle, was only thinking of that the other day about Cragg moving up to the marathon. I reckon it would be a good move. Mark Carroll ran 2h10 and I reckon Cragg with similar track times could dip under this.
Also think it would be good for him to try something different.

helpisontheway

Would it not be better to concentrate on the 4x4 team winning a medal rather than hoping to just get one of them into a final? Theres a very good squad there,Gillick,Kennedy,Gregan,Woods,Murphy etc and im sure there will be a few others within the next 4 years.The 4 x 100 aswell,its a lottery,Japan wouldnt be any great shakes and they won bronze along with Nigeria in the womens.

Individually id agree with Eileen O Keeffe but will she be able to take leave again from her job to concentrate on it.Id be thinking the same about both the Hesh and Cuddihy in their medical studies.As i said i think Proper has everything going for her at the moment,i believe she will be close to the 7m mark by 2012 as she is increasing her distances gradually year by year.Cragg for the Marathon for sure but god only knows whats goin through his head at the moment.Id nearly put a bet on Heffernan now once those Russians are being tested week in week out.

dna_leri

Real chance of winning a medal - sorry to be pessimistic - no one.

Outside chances for O'Keefe (if she gets the support),
Proper (a PB would have got her top 10 in a poor event this year),
Mens 4x400 (in the unlikely event of more baton fiascos),
Heffernan (most likely)

But we need to be realistic, accept we have a limited talent pool (or a pool with limited talent) and aim to get as many as possible (6-8) into olympic finals and eventually all the stars will line up for one of them who could sneak a medal.

Dr Watson

Tingle wrote: »

Brian Gregan could be a potential finalist (along with Gillick) but the next 2 years will tell a lot for him, he needs to get down to the 45's next season.

Will Gregan be able to maintain the momentum built up this year- does he have the group to be able to do it?

thirtyfoot

Dr Watson wrote: »

Will Gregan be able to maintain the momentum built up this year- does he have the coach and the group to be able to do it?

Its a good question. I think he is ok from a coaching perspective but he doesn't have anyone to push him in training. But then again, you don't always need someone to push you in training and for some its better to be the daddy of the group instead of getting your ass handed to you 6 days a week (Greene and Boldon). May depend on who is arriving in DCU this season, anyone know? He is as strong as an ox but I think he needs to become more explosive and dynamic, his setup and first 60m is too slow.

It regularly happens that when a super talent comes through, we all presume that for them to progress they will need to change coach or move overseas. Maybe we need to back oursleves sometimes. In my opinion Gregan's coach is great for him and I think he will help him go where he needs to go. Their approach is working so far and bear in mind he tore his hamstring at the Irish Schools and 6 weeks later is qualifying for the final of the World Juniors 400m is a sign that whatever they are doing, they are doing right. You might ask why he tore his hamstring though but **** happens to a sprinter but hopefully general conditioning will reduce the muscle imbalances that may have caused the injury.

Am I wrong in picking up the impression that you are nay too impressed with the Gregan coaching setup?

cheater

David McCarthy, currently in College in Providence.

Dr Watson

Tingle wrote: »

Am I wrong in picking up the impression that you are nay too impressed with the Gregan coaching setup?

I don't know enough about the set-up to say anything negative!

The facts are that Shields has done a good job getting him to a world junior final and equal NJR. After a year out with injury. Though he shouldn't have run the senior championships as he was goosed

I think it has less to do with the coaching and more to do with the facilities on offer

Look at Loughborough the HiPAC Bor BAth and the services available and ask yourself if you were a high performing athlete (with no ties) where would you go?

thirtyfoot

Dr Watson wrote: »

Look at Loughborough the HiPAC Bor BAth and the services available and ask yourself if you were a high performing athlete (with no ties) where would you go?

Thats a good point. If I was 18 and running 46sec I'd love to head over to Loughborough and hook up with Rooney and Gillick.

OutOfPosition

is Usain Bolt irish, if not were f******

RealistSpy

I will be at 2012 Olympics I promise . By the way what is the 100m olympic qualification time?

dna_leri

RealistSpy wrote: »

I will be at 2012 Olympics I promise . By the way what is the 100m olympic qualification time?

In 2008 the A standard was 10.21

Are you planning to be in the stand or on the track?

shels4ever

dna_leri wrote: »

In 2008 the A standard was 10.21

Are you planning to be in the stand or on the track?

ah what the heck i'll be there too.... just need to find an event...